Georgia Senate Passes Campus Carry, House Has Two Days to Act

The Georgia Senate passed campus carry on Tuesday, sending the measure to the House, which has until Thursday at midnight to pass it.

The House originally passed the legislation–HB 280–on March 6, but the Senate Judiciary Committee made changes to the bill; thus it must pass the House again.

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The Georgia House passed campus carry last year on February 22 and Governor Nathan Deal (R) defended it as it transitioned to the Senate. He dismissed arguments against law-abiding students being armed for self-defense, thereby encouraging the Senate to pass it. The Senate passed it; then Deal vetoed it amid pressure from Michael Bloomberg-sponsored gun control groups.

A point of contention for moderates last year was that law-abiding citizens would be able to carry guns into daycare facilities on public college and university campuses. HB 280 addresses those concerns via exemptions for daycare facilities. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Georgia House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee chairman Alan Powell (R-Hartwell) believes HB 280 differs enough from last year’s bill to win the favor of Governor Deal. He said, “We’re not doing all we’d like to do, we’re doing what we can do to advance this cause.”

If the House passes the legislation on Thursday it will head to Governor Deal’s desk.

On March 28 Breitbart News spoke with Georgia Carry’s executive director Jerry Henry about the legislation and he said, “This is not the bill we wanted but it is a step in the right direction. It will decriminalize carrying a firearm on a college or university campus. It moves the ball a little further down the road.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.